Electric car registrations in India rose 25.97 per cent during Navratri 2026 even as overall automobile and non-electric passenger-vehicle registrations fell, according to provisional data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Associations (FADA) on Wednesday. The figures point to a stronger festive showing for electric vehicles despite a shorter comparison period and a broader slowdown in auto retail.
Electric passenger-car registrations increased from 9,768 units during Navratri 2025 to 12,305 units during the 10-day period this year. In contrast, non-electric passenger-vehicle registrations declined from 2,24,236 units to 1,70,423 units, a fall of 24 per cent.
As a result, electric cars increased their share of passenger-vehicle registrations from 4.17 per cent in Navratri 2025 to 6.73 per cent this year, gaining 2.56 percentage points. Total passenger-vehicle registrations fell from 2,34,004 units to 1,82,728 units, a decline of 21.91 per cent.
The year-on-year comparison was affected by the length of the festive period. Navratri lasted 11 days in 2025, from September 22 to October 2, compared with 10 days from October 11 to 20 this year. The 2025 period also coincided with the GST 2.0 roll-out, which FADA said brought substantial pent-up demand into the festive window.
On a daily-average basis, electric-car registrations rose from 888 units during Navratri 2025 to 1,231 units this year, an increase of 38.6 per cent. Daily-average non-electric passenger-vehicle registrations fell from 20,385 units to 17,042 units, a decrease of 16.4 per cent.
Electric vehicles recorded gains across the wider market. Total EV registrations increased from 92,628 units to 1,17,437 units, up 26.78 per cent, while overall automobile registrations declined from 12,01,479 units to 11,23,086 units, a fall of 6.52 per cent. Electric two-wheeler registrations rose from 56,787 units to 75,758 units, an increase of 33.41 per cent. Their share of the two-wheeler market increased from 6.62 per cent to 9.08 per cent.
FADA President Sai Giridhar said EV retail had grown 26.78 per cent and accounted for close to 10.5 per cent of festive sales, compared with about 7.7 per cent a year earlier. He described electrification as the stand-out feature of the latest retail data.
Giridhar said the 6.52 per cent decline in overall registrations compared with Navratri 2025 was largely a result of the different festive-period lengths and the unusually strong demand during last year’s GST 2.0 window. He added that overall vehicle registrations were 26.76 per cent higher than during Navratri 2024, the last comparable festive period.
The data comes ahead of the Dhanteras-to-Diwali sales period. FADA said it remained cautiously optimistic about the next phase of festive auto retail, citing affordability and rising consumer aspiration as factors shaping demand.
